VMware ESXi Installation vSphere 8.0 has two core components of vSphere ESXi and vCenter Server.
ESXi is the virtualization platform on which you can create and run virtual machines and virtual appliances.
vCenter Server is a service that acts as a central administrator for ESXi hosts connected to a network.
vCenter Server lets you pool and manage the resources of multiple hosts.
You deploy the vCenter Server appliance, a preconfigured virtual machine optimized for running the vCenter Server and the vCenter Server components.
You can deploy the vCenter Server appliance on ESXi hosts or vCenter Server instances
Install ESXi
Use the ESXi CD/DVD or a USB flash drive to install the ESXi software onto a SAS, SATA, SCSI hard drive, or USB drive.
Download the ESXi installer ISO in one of the following locations
- On CD or DVD. If you do not have the installation CD/DVD, you can create one. Download and Burn the ESXi Installer ISO Image to a CD or DVD
- On a USB flash drive. Format a USB Flash Drive to Boot the ESXi Installation or Upgrade.
- You can also PXE boot the ESXi installer to run an interactive installation or a scripted installation.
Verify the following before installation:
- Verify that the server hardware clock is set to UTC.
- Verify that a keyboard and monitor are attached to the machine on which the ESXi software is installed.
- Alternatively, use a remote management application.
- Consider disconnecting your network storage.
- This action decreases the time it takes the installer to search for available disk drives.
- When you disconnect network storage, any files on the disconnected disks are unavailable at installation.
- Do not disconnect a LUN that contains an existing ESX or ESXi installation.
- Do not disconnect a VMFS datastore that contains the Service Console of an existing ESX installation.
- These actions can affect the outcome of the installation.
- Gather the information required by the ESXi installation wizard.
- Verify that ESXi Embedded is not present on the host machine.
- ESXi Installable and ESXi Embedded cannot exist on the same host.
Insert the ESXi installer CD/DVD into the CD/DVD-ROM drive, or attach the Installer USB flash drive and restart the machine.
Set the BIOS or UEFI to boot from the CD-ROM device or the USB flash drive.
After scanning for available devices completes, if your system has supported DPUs, you see them listed with their respective PCI slots.
In the DPU Details screen, you see all the properties of the DPU device.
On the Select a Disk to Install or Upgrade ESXi page, select the drive on which to install ESXi, and press Enter.
Do not rely on the disk order in the list to select a disk. The disk order is determined by the BIOS or EUFI and might be out of order. This might occur on systems where drives are continuously being added and removed.
Select the keyboard type for the host.
Enter the root password for the host.
You can change the password after installation in the direct console.
Press F11 to confirm the start of the installation.
When the installation is complete, remove the installation CD, DVD, or USB flash drive.
Press Enter to reboot the host.
Set the first boot device to be the drive on which you installed ESXi in 4.
Consider setting up a syslog server for remote logging, to ensure sufficient disk storage for log files. Setting up logging on a remote host is especially important for hosts with limited local storage.
Install vCenter Server
- Configure the ESXi boot and network settings, the direct console, and other settings.
- Consider setting up a syslog server for remote logging, to ensure sufficient disk storage for log files. Setting up logging on a remote host is especially important for hosts with limited local storage.
- You can deploy the vCenter Server appliance on an ESXi host or vCenter Server instance.
- You can deploy or install multiple vCenter Server instances connected in Enhanced Linked Mode configuration by registering them to a common Single Sign-On domain.
- Verify that your system meets the hardware and software requirements for deploying the appliance.
Deploy the appliance
Connect to the vCenter Server from the vSphere Client.
Configure the vCenter Server instance.
Congratulations! 👍🛹 You have installed ESXi and vCenter Server
Top comments (0)